Chapter Ten
It was all too much to process. That afternoon, I had discovered a secret society that my Grandfather was a part of. I was told they were set up to personally assist my sisters and I, and then was told I had to live there, indefinitely. And then I exploded. And then I thanked a cloud!
I sat on my bed, in my grandparent’s spare bedroom. I needed to get away. I needed to think alone. I didn’t want to talk to my Grandpa. Although I knew that he loved me, and had my best interests at heart, I still felt betrayed. Everyone in my family had known about this except for me. And even when I had finally hit puberty, my father and sisters still left it up to my Grandpa to tell me the truth. Although, thinking about it now, it made more sense coming from him. If Aura had told me, I would have thought it was a horrible prank. I wouldn’t have believed my Dad or Sefarina. I hadn’t even believed Grandpa until after I electrocuted him! And even then I remained sceptical!
I sat up, straight, stretching my taut back. My spine clicked loudly. I didn’t want to leave London. I didn’t want to leave my home, my friends and my school. I especially didn’t want to leave Dad. Maybe he could live with us?
I definitely did not want to live with my sisters for the rest of my life. Being cooped up underground with Aura was probably my worst nightmare come true! But on the plus side, it would be amazing to be a part of a secret organisation. And to be trained in combat. And to be almost like a secret agent, but instead I would be a secret superhero. All of those computers and simulators and gadgets… The Ventus Cohors headquarters was really cool. And the feeling I had felt when I was connected to the wind and the air… I felt strong and powerful, and somehow… complete.
But I was also scared. Scared of what I could do, and what the Ventus Cohors could do to me. I was also afraid of the Inimicus. ‘The enemy’. It was hard to think that there was a group of people out there plotting and planning; devising ways to use myself and my sisters for their devious schemes.
And then there was Valeska. Spending time with her would be fun, and difficult. I already had a huge crush on her, and being alone with her would only make it more difficult for me.
There was a knock at the bedroom door. I sat up straight, pushing my arms out in front of me to engage my back. It cracked again, and then I leaned back onto the headboard.
“Come in!” I answered.
As if by premonition, Valeska walked into my bedroom. I tried my hardest not to gawp, but it was difficult not to. She grinned at me as she strolled in, her legs moving sexily towards my bed.
“Do you mind if I sit down?” Valeska asked, and I shook my head. She could sit wherever she wanted to.
Disappointingly, she pulled out the rickety old wooden chair from its place under Grandpa’s desk, and sat down on it, crossing one leg over the other. Her black hair was still perfectly styled, her lips plump, and her face stunning.
“I hope you don’t mind me barging in on you like this…”
“No, not at all!” I replied hurriedly. I was trying too hard to impress her, and was making myself look like an idiot. I shut my mouth to allow her to continue, and scolded myself. Stay cool.
“I was worried about you. I can understand why this whole thing is overwhelming. It’s a lot of information to take in.”
“It is,” I agreed, shifting my body so that I sat closer to her.
“I came here just to tell you that you can trust me. Trust us. The whole team. We’ve been working with Elementals for a long time. Sigwald worked briefly with the group before you…”
“What were they like?” I asked, intrigued, hunching forward.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t working with the Elementus Populas then. They’re not allowed to tell me anything about them either. Sigwald mentions things sometimes, but he isn’t very specific.”
I leaned my hand against my chin, and moved closer to her.
“So where are you from? And how did you get into this? I can’t imagine they placed a job advert in the newspaper!”
Valeska laughed, meaningfully. I beamed. She liked my joke. I was funny, and she liked it!
“I’m originally from the Czech Republic. But I left there many years ago now, after I finished University. I studied Psychology and Marine Biology. It’s an odd mix, I know, but it combined my two loves: the human mind and the sea. I originally worked for the Czech government, in an environmental agency, but on the side I counselled children.”
“Oh!” I exclaimed knowingly, “I see! Now that’s why you were really told to help me. To counsel me!” I smiled, but she didn’t.
“No,” she shook her head, “it’s because I’ve just finished working with the Aqua Elementals, and I know an awful lot about Secondus’ after that!”
“How did you…?” I trailed off, sensing that she was about to answer my question without me even asking it.
“While working for the Czech government I got to go to lots of international conferences. At one, I met with a delegate from West Africa, and we got talking. He seemed very interested in my counselling work, and was impressed with my knowledge of the ocean. A few weeks later I received a call from him. He was the head of the Aqua Cohors, and said he was having trouble with one of his Elementals. Because of my experience working with children, and my knowledge of the sea, he thought I would be the perfect person to join the Elementus Populas! And it as it turns out,” she leaned closer to me, allowing me to see down her top, “I was!” She pulled back, and I removed my hand from under my chin, sitting up straight.
“Wow!” I responded, “Sounds like you’ve had a very interesting life!”
“Oh, I have…” She winked cheekily.
“So do you have a boyfriend…?” I asked interestedly. I wanted to know the answer so badly.
She giggled. “That is not the kind of question you ask to a lady you hardly know!”
I blushed in embarrassment. She did too.
“Oh!” I gulped, “I’m sorry…”
“Don’t be!” She laughed, patting my forearm with her soft hands, “It’s a perfectly normal question to ask. If you were an adult that is…”
I was stunned. She knew how to both put me in my place, and let me down, in one swift blow.
“I’ll be your teacher, your guide. Your confidante. And that is why we can’t be so personal with one another. Not about things like this, anyway.”
It made sense. Why would a beautiful, intelligent woman like her want to be friends with a fifteen year old loser like me? She only saw me as a project: someone to help. I was just a silly child to her, and that was all I was ever going to be.
I backed away from her, slowly. She continued to smile at me, happily. She seemed nice, but she was right. From now on, she would be my teacher. That is, if I chose to work with her.
“It’s exciting, isn’t it? The secret base!”
“Not really.”
“I can understand why you don’t like to be underground. But it’s for your own safety.”
“Is it?” I asked, stabbing my eyes into hers like daggers. She stared back at me seriously.
“Yes, of course! But don’t worry! No one wants to hurt you. Not yet, anyway…”
“That makes me feel a lot better,” I replied sarcastically.
“You need to know the truth. I won’t hide it from you, nobody will. That wouldn’t be fair.”
“And what is the ‘truth’ exactly? That my sisters and I will be your test subjects? Your lab rats? The people you’ll poke and monitor and control… What if I don’t want to be a part of the Ventus Cohors, or even the Elementals? What if I don’t want to use my powers to help other people? Maybe I just want to play football for the rest of my life!”
She put her hand back onto mine, and stroked my thumb, gently.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you want to quit, you can. If you want to work by yourself, you can. If you want to ignore the Elementus Populas, you can! It’s your life. We’re just trying to help you ma
ke the most of it. We want you to use your powers to help save both people and the planet! I know that that is a huge thing to ask of anyone, and I would completely understand if you chose to walk away from it all.” She moved her hand away from mine. “But if you do, then you’ll have to live with the consequences.”
I stared at her pale face, which was now turned away from mine.
“What do you mean the consequences?”
“Say you choose to go and live a normal life. That would mean that your sisters, and you, would never be as powerful as you could be. It also means that you would be preventing the other Elementals from being complete. And,” she twisted her eyes back to lock onto mine, “what if something awful happens, something terrible, that you could have prevented? Could you live with yourself?”
My mouth became dry, and I couldn’t swallow.
“You mean…” I began, but she cut me off.
“There’s a tornado heading towards a town. Your sisters may be able to stop it from harming anyone, but by themselves, without you, they may not succeed. Because they would be weaker. Imagine if that happened, and your sisters, and lots of other innocent people, were badly hurt. You could have stopped that. You could have saved them all.”
She was right, I knew she was, but it wasn’t fair. I didn’t ask to have these powers, and right now, I didn’t really want them. Guilt-tripping me wasn’t making me feel any better either. I had already lost my mother over this whole situation, and I didn’t want to lose anyone else. I didn’t want to have to give up my whole life for something I might not even want to do! I would have to give up everything… but I guessed that it was for a noble cause. I’d be saving and helping a lot of people. I assumed that I could always try it out, and if I didn’t like it, then leave. But what if they made me a prisoner? What if they threatened me? Hurt me, or someone I cared about…?
I forced the negative thoughts out of my mind. As Grandpa had said before, he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me. So I had to trust him. And I had to trust Sigwald, and Valeska, and the rest of the Ventus Cohors. They too had given up their lives for this… mission. I couldn’t be so selfish. It’s not how Dad raised me to be.
“I guess I could try it out…” I began, turning my gaze away from Valeska’s, “and we could see how it goes. I’ve always wanted to be a superhero!”
I laughed, and she joined in, catching my stare.
“If it doesn’t work out, you could always join the Inimicus! I’ve heard they have good pay…”
My body suddenly went tense. Just the mention of our so called enemy made me feel afraid. Valeska shifted uneasily: embarrassed.
“That was a joke!” She chuckled humourlessly; worried that she had gone too far. I thought about what she had said for a second, and, in hindsight, I realised that it was kind of funny. I grinned, then laughed. She smiled in relief, and the tension dissipated from my muscles. We stopped, and she sighed.
“I’m going to enjoy working with you.”
I looked her up and down, taking in every ounce of her dazzling beauty.
“Me too,” I replied, “me too.”